20th-century addiction adversity african-american african-american-experience african-american-literature alienation ambition america american american-author american-culture american-dream american-history american-literature american-society architecture assimilation belonging bestseller betrayal bildungsroman biography black-culture black-experience black-identity blindness boston brotherhood building challenges character-driven character-study civil-rights civil-rights-movement class class-divide classic coming-of-age community compassion conflict conformity construction craftsmanship creativity culture dedication design determination discrimination disillusionment domestic-life domesticity drama dreams dysfunctional dysfunctional-family existentialism family family-dynamics fiction freedom friendship hardship harlem harlem-renaissance healthcare historic-house historic-preservation historical historical-context historical-preservation history home home-building home-improvement home-ownership home-renovation homebuilding homelessness homeownership hope house housing housing-crisis housing-market human-connection human-resilience identity identity-crisis individualism individuality inequality inspiration inspiring interior-design introspection investigative-journalism investigative-reporting invisibility invisible invisible-man isolation jazz journalism journey kidder life literary-journalism loss love massachusetts memoir mental-health mental-illness middle-class modernism moving narrative narrative-nonfiction new-england non-fiction nonfiction nonfiction-bestseller nonfiction-book oppression passion perseverance personal-freedom personal-growth personal-journey personal-narrative personal-narratives personal-struggle politics poverty power power-dynamics prejudice preservation protagonist protest psychological psychology pulitzer-prize pulitzer-prize-winner pulitzer-prize-winning pulitzer-prize-winning-author race racism ralph-ellison real-estate recovery redemption reflection relationship relationships renovating renovation resilience restoration rural rural-life secrets segregation self-discovery small-town social-class social-commentary social-dynamics social-inequality social-injustice social-issues social-justice societal-norms society southern-united-states stereotypes storytelling struggle substance-abuse suburban-life success surrealism survival symbolism teamwork tracy tragedy transformation triumph true-story underground urban-development urban-life urban-planning wealth writing